Reviewed 17 Oct 2011 by Lina Valaine
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
Essaouira - good seafood and nice market. Fresh orange juice for 4 Dirhams in Marrakesh.
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
Take a sleeping bag for Sahara camp- mattresses were dusty and smelled badly. Take a WC paper and a soap-believe me, you will need it! (toilets are incredibly dirty). Coffee - if you need it, take your own. Be careful in Marrakech-lots of scam and they will mislead you. You will have to pay money to find your way back.
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
Yes, tried to buy souvenirs from local people and small shops.
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
Looking back, I think I've spent 10 days in a bus and don't really have memories from this trip if I don't look at my photos. I will list some issues below that were very disappointing for me. If they don't bother you-you will enjoy this trip.
- Too long journeys from one place to another.. 4-6h driving every day is very tiring, so please consider that if you choose this trip. Scenery didn't change and I saw only mountains and rocks from my seat.
- Btw the mini van is not comfortable at all and if you have long legs-your problem.
- Breakfasts were terrible. Morocco is a country with lots of vegetables and fruits, specially oranges but there was only 1 glass of orange juice every morning (value of 4 Dirhams) like if it is a huge deficit and practically no fruits. I was fed up with dry baguette and marmelade at the end of the trip-this is what you get every morning-bread, bread bread. Coffee lovers- they will give you coloured water and will call it a coffee.
If the above doesn't bother you-have a great journey!
Chased for a comment, otherwise put live next week on 21st nov 2011
Reviewed 27 Jun 2010 by Jessica Thistleton
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
There are many memorable moments in the trip but watching the sunset over the sand in the desert will be hard to forget.
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
Enjoy!
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
Fantastic. Mourad was a great guide, he went out of his way to help us make the most of the trip and was a lot of fun. We were able to see and learn much about this beautiful country in a short space of time. I would recommend this trip to anyone.
Reviewed 19 Dec 2009 by Dawn Gibson
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
Traveling into the Sahara and staying overnight. I really enjoyed everything from the camel ride and the four wheel driving to sleeping under the stars. A truly magical experience.
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
Make sure that you have enough cold weather clothing for the desert section of the trip. The temperature really plummeted overnight.
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
Yes, in terms of benefiting local people. As well as creating employment in a country where unemployment is high, I appreciated the visit to the centre for disabled people, including the opportunity to buy products made by clients. As far as the minimisation of impact on the environment, I am unsure about this.
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
Morocco Express was one of the most memorable and enjoyable trips I have taken anywhere in the world. The program was well considered and well paced, so there was just enough to do each day without running participants ragged. Apart from the Sahara, as mentioned above, I really enjoyed the hiking in the High Atlas Mountains and the time in Essaouira.
The only things I would add to the current program: a visit to Fez and more hiking/walking. Regarding Fez, so many other people who have visited Morocco have told me that Fez was amazing and far less touristy than Marrakech. Regarding the hiking, it would have been nice to have a couple more half days devoted to physical activity, particularly with so much spectacular scenery to enjoy.
Finally, what made Morocco so wonderful for me was the local people. Almost everyone that we encountered during the course of the tour was so welcoming and clearly happy to see people from other countries who were interested in their country.
On this note, Jamal, our tour leader, was an absolute gem. He is such an excellent 'people person' with fantastic knowledge of all of the places we visited. I appreciated how he could relate to all of the travelers in our group and effectively balance all of our different requests. He is truly a huge asset.
Reviewed 10 Jun 2006 by Amanda Brown
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
The time in the desert.
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
It is not cold at night in the desert in May; fleeces are not necessary! You need to drink possibily more than twice what you ever imagined you would need to drink. Imodium is an absolute necessity but with it the vacation is fab.
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
Yes. There is always an issue as to whether local people are exploited to provide rich westerners with a great vacation but I do not think so here.
4. Any other comments?
4 stars. Would recommend it to the right sort of friends.
